New Video Resource Available for Cemeteries and Funeral Homes to Promote the Importance of Permanent Memorialization  

STERLING, Va. (October 13, 2025) – The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral  Association’s Educational Foundation and Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) have partnered to  produce a powerful new video segment, now available for cemeteries and funeral homes to use in their community outreach and education efforts.  

The project began when Jay Dodds, Chief Strategy Officer at Park Lawn Corporation, was approached about the opportunity. Recognizing its value, he brought it to the attention of the ICCFA Educational Foundation, which quickly saw the importance of the topic and joined the  initiative. Together, the two organizations funded the project and brought the vision to life.  

Premiering in April 2025 on Advancements with Ted Danson, the segment highlights the essential role of permanent memorialization in the 21st century. It explores one of the most pressing challenges facing the profession today: ensuring that cremated remains are brought back to cemeteries and honored with a meaningful, lasting tribute.  

Through expert insights and real-world perspectives, the program emphasizes how the profession can work together to support families in making thoughtful, permanent placement decisions. Even as direct cremation rates rise, the segment underscores the importance of presenting every family with dignified options for memorialization that provide enduring comfort and a place of remembrance for generations to come.  

“We are honored to have helped make this project possible,” said Gino Merendino, President of the ICCFA Educational Foundation. “Our hope is that this video spreads an important message— that memorialization and remembrance are not only about honoring a life, but also about offering healing and connection for those left behind.”  

“Permanent memorialization is not just a professional responsibility—it’s a gift we give to families and future generations,” said Jay Dodds. “This segment is a valuable resource that cemeteries and funeral homes can use to inspire meaningful conversations in their communities and to reaffirm the lasting role our profession plays in guiding families through loss.”  

The segment is now available for deathcare professionals to share with their communities as part  of outreach, education, and engagement initiatives. It can be viewed from the ICCFA YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/TheICCFA. The full episode of Advancements with Ted Danson is also available to stream on Amazon Prime, Season 9, Episode 4.  

About ICCFA Educational Foundation 

The ICCFA Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) entity, established to make education accessible to future leaders in the deathcare profession and thereby raise the standards of professionalism within the industry. To learn more about the work of the Foundation and upcoming educational opportunities, please visit https://iccfa.com/educational-foundation/ 

Experience + Innovation: Champion’s New Resource for Embalmers

Springfield, Ohio – August 2025 – The Champion Company, a leader in embalming innovation, proudly announces the Mortuary Masterclass—part of its Journey to Safer Solutions, delivering practical education and forward-looking resources for funeral professionals.

The Mortuary Masterclass bridges generations of funeral service expertise—pairing the wisdom of seasoned embalmers with the fresh perspectives of today’s students and new professionals. Each episode blends science, research, and real-world prep room conversation in a practical, engaging format.

“Our Expanding Encyclopedia of Mortuary Practices set the standard for excellence in research publications,” said Rick Jordan, Sales Manager at The Champion Company. “Mortuary Masterclass carries that same spirit forward—only now it’s knowledge embalmers can take with them, whether in the prep room, between calls, or over morning coffee.”

Episodes cover topics from advances in chemical formulations to casework strategies for dehydration, jaundice, and decomposition. The series is available on Spotify, iHeartRadio, and YouTube.

About The Champion Company

Founded in 1878, The Champion Company has led embalming innovation for nearly 150 years—advancing preservation science with safer solutions, integrity, and a steadfast commitment to education.

For more information, visit www.thechampioncompany.com.

Funeral Director Daily first reported on the “Funeral Coverage Act”, a proposed amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat distributions from health savings accounts (HSA) for funeral expenses of the account beneficiary as qualified distributions last March.  (You can see that article here).  However, the bill never made its complete movement through Congress last session.

We have recently learned that the bill — HR 2436 — has been re-introduced.  You can follow the progress of the bill as it moves its way through Congress here.

The ultimate result of treating these monies paid to a funeral home from an HSA would be that they could be a tax-free payment for funeral expenses instead of a taxable distribution to the beneficiary(ies) or the estate.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) website:

“Like an IRA account, when a person sets up an HSA, they name a beneficiary. If the beneficiary is a surviving spouse, the unused portion of the decedent’s HSA passes directly to the spouse and becomes his or her HSA; there is no tax liability.

If the beneficiary is not the surviving spouse, the proceeds that pass to the beneficiary are taxed to the beneficiary as ordinary income. However, if the decedent died owing medical expenses, the proceeds in the HSA may be used to pay those medical expenses on a tax-free basis for up to one year after the death.

If no beneficiary is named, the proceeds of the HSA go to the decedent’s estate, and they are taxed as ordinary income on the decedent’s final personal income tax return.”

 

Related Article —  “Health Savings Accounts and Funeral Expenses:  A common sense solution for grieving families”.  NFDA

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Don’t get me wrong — on a selfish note this bill would be great for funeral homes and for families that might struggle to pay for their death care costs.  It would give families another tool to stop some of them from taking on debt to pay funeral expenses. . . .And, that would be a good thing for those consumers.

However, there is, at least, two sides to every issue.  By allowing a “tax-free” distribution for this purpose, it eliminates the ability of our federal government to “take-in” a form of tax revenue.  And, there is a group that believes that revenue might be better used to pay down the nation’s debt than to give to families — some whom may have other ways to pay for the funeral costs.

Again, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not arguing against passing this bill — but this is how I learned to look at issues when I sat on the Board of Regents for the University of Minnesota.  I always had to look at both sides of the issue.  I learned that even when I had a personal viewpoint one way, voting the other way might be the best way for the University to move forward.  I’m just wondering if that is how members of Congress might see this issue.

So, while I am for this bill.  . I think that there will be challenges passing it moving forward because the net result is that it will add to the deficit and debt.

My Friday morning group:  During my winter in Florida I belong to a Minnesota Friday morning breakfast group.  We meet every Friday morning for breakfast and invite speakers to come to the event.  One of our speakers this winter was Congress member Rep. Michele Fischbach of Minnesota.  She is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and told us that her committee was already having these discussions about what will be in the, as President Trump calls it, “Big Beautiful Tax Cut” bill.  Congress member Fischbach explained the discussions are around exactly what I am talking about  —  “Maxium tax benefits to Americans versus the costs of decreased revenue to the National budget”.

HR 2436 – The “Funeral Coverage Act” was not introduced until March 15 — a period long after Congresswomen Fischbach told us that they were already considering what will be “in” and what will be “out” of the President’s proposed bill.

Related Article — Here’s an article Funeral Director Daily published in 2023 about this HSA/Funeral Cost idea well before it was introduced into Congress.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

This Seriously Might Be *THE* Most Comprehensive End-of-Life Resource Ever

We all know that planning for the end of life is important. That’s exactly what you advise the families you serve, especially when they’re making arrangements for someone who had not thought ahead. And while arranging and prepaying for funeral services and disposition is a huge step toward that goal, you know there’s much, much more to plan. And helping your families find the appropriate provider for each service can be like sending them off on a scavenger hunt.

That’s where Buried In Work can save the day … in the most concise, comprehensive, and organized way.

From DIY to concierge

Buried In Work is an all-in-one solution for all things end-of-life. From “wow-they’ve-thought-of-everything” kits to a website filled with free, uber-organized links, checklists, and detailed information, Buried In Work truly can be your best partner for preplanning.

“Effectively, what we’re building is the equivalent of the wedding industry’s ‘The Knot’ for estate planning, organization, and end-of-life tasks all the way through estate transition and probate,” explains Adam Zuckerman, CEO and Founder of Buried In Work. “Our goal is to give people free resources for the do-it-yourselfers, and for those who want a little extra help, we have some products available for purchase.”

Like most successful startups, Buried In Work came about because a real solution to a true need just didn’t exist. In this case, Zuckerman’s experience as his father’s executor provided the inspiration. An attorney with an MBA who has worked in finance, media and tech, Zuckerman executed what his mother’s financial planner called “the most comprehensive estate transition” she had ever seen. Consequently, Zuckerman made notes that detailed his simplified, yet thorough, process to help others. Those notes became a website that garnered more than 10,000 visits in under a week, and Buried In Work was born.

Working with Buried In Work

Zuckerman is eager to share the Buried In Work resources with deathcare professionals — not just because of the generous revenue-sharing and co-branding opportunities that are available for partners, but because these products and information will actually facilitate valuable connection with the families you serve and create better experiences all around. 

“We want to collaborate with end-of-life service providers to develop and provide the essential resources and tools their families need, so they can concentrate on their core expertise,” he says.

The tools Zuckerman has created can help you to address nearly any potential non-deathcare question you might field from a family, like, “Who should I call to arrange an estate sale?” or “Can I access Mom’s safe deposit box if I can’t find the key?” or “When I close Dad’s credit cards will Mom’s credit score go down since she’s secondary on those accounts?” (Zuckerman can tell you that the answer to this is “Yes, probably,” as that’s exactly what happened to his own mother … and it took him and his siblings weeks to remedy the situation.) 

Your partnership with Buried In Work can be anonymous and free by simply accessing the website for information, or you can work with Zuckerman and his team to offer “Powered By Buried in Work” products and services to your families. There are even opportunities to share your own thoughts and expertise as a guest on the recently launched Buried In Work podcast!

Mind-boggling amounts of information … for free

Zuckerman tasked his team with gathering details on virtually every aspect of end-of-life planning and finding answers to pretty much any question a planner, family member, or provider might ask. And the site is constantly updated and expanded as new information becomes available. Most importantly, the companies and organizations (including funeral homes, attorneys, cemeteries, hospice care, death doulas, etc.) that are included in the 20 Directories  aren’t limited by a conglomerate parent company, professional affiliations, or anyone’s personal preferences. If there’s a provider out there who is a solid option for products or services, they will be included on this site so everyone has access to all options that are available to them. (They even have a page on How to Plan & Prepay For Your Funeral With Preneed Insurance.)

To provide a bit of context where they get ideas for the website’s content, when someone reached out asking for help on how to close an account with Amazon after a relative died, instead of simply finding an answer, the Buried in Work team took the time to contact nearly 100 of the largest companies in the US to create a database of company-specific account closure instructions.

BuriedinWork.com resources include:

• 20 searchable service provider directories (Tip: By claiming a directory listing, you can connect with potential customers and also improve your website’s search engine ranking results.)
• 30+ checklists covering “What to Do When Someone Dies”, property disposition, guardianships, etc.
• 1,800+ articles on everything from A-B trusts to Zakat
• 30+ document and outreach templates
• 15 educational guides on topics like wills, trusts, and estate taxes
• State-specific resources
• Glossary defining 100+ estate planning and end-of-life terms

…and so much more. This colossal collection of data seems to be all-encompassing, but Zuckerman still encourages feedback and suggestions on content that can be added to the catalog.

Additional options

Although this plethora of information is extremely helpful, perhaps it’s most beneficial when organized into a physical or virtual collection that can be easily accessed and followed by individuals, their loved ones, and executors. Enter Buried In Work’s signature product line, the Comprehensive Legacy & Estate Administration Repository (CLEAR) Kit.

Available in print or digital editions, each CLEAR Kit includes three separate binders for recording 1) personal information, heritage, and pet profiles; 2) technology, assets, liabilities, and tax details; and 3) final affairs, medical, and legal. The physical version is beautifully presented in premium faux-leather zipper binders that were custom manufactured for Buried in Work, includes a water- and fire-resistant material document organizer, and can be embossed with your funeral home’s branding. The contents of each CLEAR Kit is customized for the recipient(s) based on a short survey they submit at the time of purchase.

Buried In Work also offers two thought-provoking card games that are designed to open up discussions and gather crucial information about a person’s memories, end-of-life wishes, or estate. They quickly sold out at Sibley Memorial Hospital’s gift shop (which is part of Johns Hopkins Medicine) Other items available for purchase include a host’s guide to a “Death During Dinner” event, accessories to enhance the CLEAR Kits, comprehensive forms and templates (including an end-of-life planning worksheet), and even professional services like on-site workshops or facilitated Zoom discussions.

Learn more

Check out all that Buried In Work has to offer on the website, BuriedInWork.com. If you’d like to learn more about partnering with Buried In Work, reach out to Adam Zuckerman at adam@buriedinwork.com. You can also catch up with him at the NFDA conference in New Orleans this week!